American Savings Bank Named National Lender of the Year by Ways to Work, Inc.

American Savings Bank today was named National Lender of the Year by Ways to Work, Inc. for its support of the Ways to Work Family Loan Program on Oahu. The award was presented during the 2004 Ways to Work annual meeting held by the Honolulu-based Consuelo Foundation, at the Plaza Club in Honolulu, on January 30, 2004.

In 2003, American Savings Bank funded 53 Ways to Work loans to low-income parents who could not get loans elsewhere, totaling nearly $150,000. Since 2001 it has funded 93 loans totaling nearly $250,000. The bank’s role in the program was recognized out of a field of 42 such programs throughout the nation. No other bank in Hawaii offers the Ways to Work loan program.

“This award goes to a wonderful institution that has not only met but far exceeded our expectations for quality service to people who really need their help,” said Robert Duea, president of Milwaukee-based Ways to Work, Inc.

The purpose of the Ways to Work program is to provide loans that help qualifying parents on Oahu to keep their jobs, get better jobs, or stay in school. Ranging from $500 to $4,000, the loans may be used to help low and moderate-income families purchase a used car, pay for car repairs, child-care or certain other needs.

A full-time student and mother of two, Nanette Miles needed a reliable car to get to work, attend her classes and take her son to his medical appointments. “I had heard about the program, and when my car broke down a friend encouraged me to apply,” said Miles. “I was able to get a loan for a reliable car so I could take care of my responsibilities as a mother and student. It is a great program and I recommend it to everyone. Sometimes we need just a little help and extra confidence to get by.”

Loan decisions are made by a committee of volunteers from banking, business, social service and public administration professions. All approved customers are provided money management training, and their loans are closed, funded and serviced by American Savings Bank.

“We support the Ways to Work program because it reflects our core value of getting involved and finding ways as a financial institution to help our communities,” said Constance Lau, president and CEO of American Savings Bank. “We strive to help Hawaii’s businesses, communities and individuals to grow and prosper. This program was a great idea, because it’s pretty difficult to prosper and care for your family if you can’t get to work.”

The bank was nominated for the award by The Honolulu-based Consuelo Foundation, which initiated the Ways to Work program on Oahu in June 2001, and has been managing and operating the program since then.

“As a lending partner for the Ways to Work program, American Savings Bank has been an integral contributor to Consuelo Foundation’s solid program development, nationally recognized operations, and successful marketing on Oahu,” said Patti Lyons, president and CEO.

Some of the reasons Consuelo Foundation cited American Savings Bank for the award include:

• Community Focus: The bank’s 39 branch offices on Oahu, which provide a “hometown” bank for easy access to traditional financial services, as the program is integrated within the entire bank structure to facilitate service of the loans in customers’ local communities.
• Build Awareness: With assistance from American Savings Bank, advertising on Honolulu’s island-wide bus system has been the program’s most effective marketing tool — generating a high volume of inquiries of which almost 80 percent were eligible for application.
• Providing Service: American Savings Banks’ attention to detail in review of legal agreements, policy manual, and marketing materials — in addition to examination by Foundation attorneys — has helped us to produce a program that has successfully met the requirements of one of the most thorough evaluations conducted on any Ways to Work program in the nation.

“As a result,” explains Lyons, “we got the word out and put the money in the hands of people who really needed it, and American Savings Bank made it convenient for customers in their own local communities.”

Results have been achieved for the Ways to Work program on Oahu in the following ways:

• Providing Education: Over 300 borrowers acquired money management skills through program training.
• Promoting Financial Responsibility:
  • Default average of 8.2 percent is significantly below the national average of 13.8 percent.
  • Eighty-two percent of borrowers who repaid their loans improved their credit scores.
• Improving Income: Sixty-five percent of borrowers who paid their loans in full increased their income.

Ways to Work, Inc. was established by the Milwaukee-based Alliance for Children and Families to help interested Alliance member organizations replicate the Ways to Work loan program in their local communities.

The Alliance is a national membership association that provides resources and leadership to over 300 private, nonprofit child- and family-serving organizations in the United States and Canada.

Consuelo Foundation was established in 1988 to improve the lives of disadvantaged children, women and families – particularly the abused – throughout the Philippines and Hawaii. The Foundation provides $5 million annually for charitable activities in the Philippines and Hawaii, benefiting about 55,000 women, children and families each year.